Total Budget Rs 2.124 Trillion, Shortfall to Be Met Through Borrowing

Kathmandu — Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle has allocated total expenditure of Rs 2,124.34 billion for the upcoming fiscal year.

According to the budget, of the total allocation, Rs 1,270.58 billion, or 59.8 percent, is for recurrent expenditure, Rs 431.10 billion, or 20.3 percent, for capital expenditure, and Rs 422.64 billion, or 19.9 percent, for financing arrangements. This expenditure estimate is 25.2 percent higher than the revised estimate for the current fiscal year.

According to Finance Minister Wagle, of the sources to meet the coming year's expenditure, Rs 1,405.31 billion will come from revenue and Rs 61.74 billion from foreign grants. Even with this, he said, there will be a shortfall of Rs 657.29 billion.

To meet that shortfall, Rs 247.28 billion will be mobilised through foreign loans. The Finance Minister said the remaining Rs 410 billion that revenue and foreign assistance cannot cover will be raised through internal borrowing.

Since Rs 245.89 billion of internal debt principal will be repaid in the upcoming fiscal year, only a net Rs 164.11 billion will be mobilised through internal borrowing.